


A Wonderful First Encounter

by Banda_Panda8



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Etho effortlessly will catch anyone, I jumped on the Gritho ship oops, I'm bad at summaries just read it lol, M/M, This is my first fic in like 5 years, they're both so awkward I love it, they're so freaking cute I had to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:41:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24418282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banda_Panda8/pseuds/Banda_Panda8
Summary: Grian and Etho had never met before, and then one day they lock eyes.
Relationships: Grian/Etho
Comments: 9
Kudos: 242





	A Wonderful First Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all, this is just a little thing I wrote up based on the enounter with Etho that Grian showed in his episode 23 (I believe it was 23). I haven't written anything in like 5 or 6 years, so this was pretty spontaneous. I think I edited out all the mistakes, but I'm not too good at editing so there may still be some. Either way, I hope you enjoy!

*Etho*

Etho flew into the shopping district to check if anyone had bought any ice yet. He normally wasn't active at this time, but he was having trouble focusing on anything so he decided a stroll around the shopping district would be nice. Once he made it to the shop and saw that the little pop-up Etho was still in working condition he took his shoes off and walked in. He welcomed the chilly feeling that accompanied his shop and glanced at the allium that Stress had given him. He was glad that the Ice Queen from season 6 was fine with him taking that title. Maybe next season he'll hand off the title to someone else, who knows. 

As he checked the chests he found that he had made 24 blue shinies and placed them in his inventory. He wasn't sure yet if he wanted to throw these ones into lava or use them for a shopping spree. He'd figure that out later. As he walked outside he looked to the side, and right into eyes that were so blue they rivaled that of the ice he sold in his shop.

*Grian*

Lookie Lookie at my Bookie had to be one of his most frequented shops. Grian walked out of the shop once more and wondered if he should start a counter of how many times he shopped there. Looking around the shopping district he could see that things were coming along very nicely, though the organization could use some work. There was such a variety of shops littered about, and he was glad he came up with the idea of a mayor for the district. There was absolutely no rhyme or reason to anything when it came to the shops. There were shops that were floating off the coast line, shops that were wedged between two others, and even shops built right under the floorboards of another. 

He noticed the small little ice shop next to LLAMB and tried to remember who it belonged to. He knew that Stress had been Ice Queen last season, but he also knew that when the new season began she renounced that title. Now that he was thinking about it, he's never even seen anyone come by to stock that shop. He knew that the ice biomes weren't that close to the main area so whoever owned this shop had to be really dedicated to keep going back and forth to restock. The ice shop was pretty quaint, decorated to look like an igloo with a sign simply saying ice on the top. Out of the corner of his eye Grian saw something pop out of the ground, only to fall right back down before he could get a good look at what it was. While he was distracted someone walked out of the shop and right in his field of view and Grian froze. He realized that this hermit is one he'd never met before, and was really annoyed because no one told him there was a ninja on the server. There were so many possibilities for shenanigans with a ninja by his side. The stranger had a green vest on over a simple navy shirt and pants. He had a headband holding back his white hair and a navy mask covering his nose and mouth. Then there was his eyes. He knew that a lot of people had eyes that were... not normal... so to say, but there was just something about the way his eyes glistened with the afternoon sun. One of his eyes was red, and it was a beautiful shade. 

*Etho*

Those eyes locked onto his and after a few seconds of silent awe he starts to take in the rest of the body that the eyes belong to. He had curly blond hair that looked like rays of sunshine cascading around his face. He wore a simple red sweater and black jeans, and his elytra wings were clasped to his back so tightly that it almost looked like they were fused into his skin. Etho tried to remember who this hermit was, but no matter how hard he thought through the hermits names he couldn't seem to place this guy. His memory of season 6 was a little fuzzy because he was still on his own recovering from the nHo jungle incident of season 5, but he did remember a story that Doc told him from back when he teamed up with Scar on the Area 77 project. He remembered hearing about the curly haired hippie that Doc would complain about, the one that Doc described as a gremlin with wings. If he remembered correctly Grian was his name. Kinda fitting that his hair looked like sunshine then.

Etho quickly realized that he and Grian had been staring at each other for an oddly long time and he started to wonder if Grian was expecting him to say something, but Etho couldn't figure out how to form words. He was too awestruck by Grian to even move properly, so his instincts kicked in and he went into a defensible crouching position. Etho wasn't sure what he was expecting to happen honestly, since normally you don't just see someone for the first time and crouch down before you even say anything to them. After a few seconds Grian actually crouched down as well, and the standoff began again. Both hermits were just looking at each other, neither wanting to be the first to back down from the staring contest.

*Grian*

Why did Grian crouch in response to the white haired ninja? He wasn't really sure. He did it anyway though, and he saw the smallest glint of surprise in the ninjas eyes. Something about this ninja started to ring a bell in Grians head and he wondered if he had heard about this guy before. He thought back to the Civil War from season 6 when team STAR made their rap video. Doc's part had stuck out to him the most, understandably so since it was directed at him, and he realized that this was one of the members of the nHo. He didn't know much about season 5 but he had heard enough stories to know that the group settled down in a jungle, but a little while into the season things started to go bad. The jungle started to overtake the nHo and before long the group started to go missing. There were four members originally; Etho, VintageBeef, BDoubleo, and Docm77. Doc was the only one that made it out of the jungle. He knew who Bdubs was, so it wasn't him, and from the stories he knew that Beef was in fact not a ninja, so this guy must be Etho. 

He wasn't sure what about Etho had him so speechless, but Grian just couldn't find the words to say hello. Also, at this point they had already crouched in response to each other for no reason, so he figured they were past hellos. After a few more seconds of agonizing silence Grian saw Etho start to back up towards his ice shop. Once Etho is behind the little wall of ice Grian starts to walk backwards as well, and eventually turns around to head back to his base. Before he can get far he hears an inaudible mumbling and whips his head back around to see if Etho was trying to get his attention, but there was no one there. Etho had been there just a second ago, and now he was nowhere to be found. 

*Etho*

Etho started to back up towards his shop, because that was the only action that he could manage to pull off. As soon as he was behind the wall of his ice shop he peeked out to see Grian turn around and start to walk away, so he came out from behind the shop and mumbled under his breath.

"Well that was an amazing first impression Etho. You meet a handsome guy and can't even say hello." He saw Grian stop ever so slightly when he said this and realized that he wasn't as quiet as he thought he was. He didn't want Grian to think he was any weirder than he probably already did, so he quickly grabbed an ender pearl and tossed it onto the top of the closest building. Once it landed he realized that he teleported at the perfect time, because Grian turned around at that exact instant. Not wanting Grian to see him on the roof he stayed low for a little while until Grian turned back around and started to walk away. Etho took this opportunity to jump down off the roof. What he didn't realize is that he went to the edge where Grian was also walking, and jumped down right in front of him. 

*Grian*

This encounter was by far the weirdest first impression he'd ever had. Hopefully Etho didn't think he was too weird because of this, but he'd have to figure that out at a later date. He still wasn't sure how the ninja had disappeared that quickly, and it honestly left him a bit flustered. A lot of the hermits had different abilities and what not, there was Scar with his 'magic crystals', Cub was half Vex so he had their magic, Iskall and Doc had their redstone enhanced senses, and many more. Etho was just really good at being a ninja, but it still caught Grian off guard. While Grian was lost in his thoughts he started walking back through the shopping district, not really paying attention, and because of that he walked straight into Etho, who had just jumped off of the building he had been hidden on top of. The sudden shock of running into the ninjas muscled chest caused him to legitimately squeal as he stared up at Etho's face. He couldn't see his expression because of the mask, but his eyes showed as much shock as Grians did, and with only a split second before he lost his balance he realized that up close Etho's hair looked about as soft as a cloud did. Part of Grians mind wandered as he thought about what it might feel like to run his hands through it. 

The other part of Grians mind quickly realized he was falling down because he literally just ran face first into an amazingly broad chest and didn't know how to keep his balance gracefully. Time seemed to slow down for Grian as he prepared himself to fall down, not even thinking to try and stop with his hands. He accepted the fact that this was just another part of the amazing first impression that he and Etho would share and just closed his eyes and waited for the impact. He waited for an impact that never came, and only once he realized he had stopped falling he finally opened his eyes. He opened his eyes to look right into the eyes of Etho, who had seemingly caught Grian by his waist making their faces quite close. Needless to say Grian was flustered.

*Etho*

Etho could feel the look of shock on his face, and could also tell that when he was up close Grian's eyes did in fact sparkle just like ice did. He was distantly aware of a small sound that escaped Grian's lips and snapped out of his trance to find that the other hermit had lost his balance after running into Etho's chest. Grian running into his chest made Etho very aware of the fact that Grian was just the right height that Etho's lips were right in line with his forehead, so that they had almost accidentally kissed Grian's forehead. Wait, why was he thinking about that, Grian was falling. Before Etho could think his hand sprung out towards Grian, just barely catching the falling hermit by his waist. In order to stop them both from falling to the ground Etho had to lunge out with his leg, also grabbing onto Grian's shoulder with his other hand. It would look like they were dancing to anybody who happened to be walking through the shopping district, though Etho silently hoped no one was. Etho knew he was a bit awkward, but if anybody saw this encounter he would never live it down. Grian still hadn't reacted to being caught, and Etho realized that Grian had closed his eyes when he began to fall. Slowly the shorter hermit realized that he stopped falling and opened his eyes to look up at Etho. Once again Etho got lost in Grian's eyes, but this time he was able to form words. A small smile formed under his mask and though he knew Grian couldn't see it, you could just hear it in the tone of his voice.

"Well today must be my lucky day. I came here to collect diamonds and I end up catching a handsome hermit." Grian's breath hitched when Etho said this, and all he could do was chuckle at the blush he could see creeping up Grian's cheeks.


End file.
